§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 April 2001,Official Report, column 68W, what advice was given to the DSAC on (a) the social impact of the use of plastic baton rounds and (b) the views of victims' organisations. [158045]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeNone. The Defence Scientific Advisory Council considered the scientific and technological issues in relation to this equipment.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 April 2001,Official Report, column 68W, how many police forces and other bodies are to be equipped with the L21A1 plastic baton round; what his estimate is of the cost of re-equipping each force; how many L21A1 baton rounds have been ordered in each force and at what cost; how many L104 anti-riot guns have been ordered and at what cost; how many XL18E3 optical sight mechanisms have been ordered for each force and at what cost; and what is his estimate of the cost of retraining each unit to be equipped with new equipment. [158037]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTwenty-four police forces in England and Wales presently have baton guns. No additional baton guns have been ordered, but new sights to adapt the weapons which already exist have been ordered. Those forces which have the weapon will have already been training in its use and no additional training costs are known to have arisen as a result of the new equipment.
I wish to consider further, in consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers, whether information on the holdings of individual forces can be released without prejudicing operational effectiveness.